Did You Know...

Have past presidents invited themselves to deliver commencement addresses? I’m no expert on the topic, but I don’t think it happens very often — especially after the school had already chosen a speaker.

President Obama will deliver this year’s commencement address at Barnard College, officials at the college and the White House announced on Saturday.

Word of Mr. Obama’s appearance at Barnard, a 123-year-old women’s college in New York City, comes as the White House and Democrats have seized on Republican attempts to block a requirement for contraception coverage in the new health care law, saying it amounts to a “war on women.”

Democrats believe the issue could be an effective rallying point with women voters in a presidential election year, and the decision to appear at the prestigious women’s school could provide a high-profile forum for the president on that front.

An Obama administration official confirmed on Friday that the White House had called Barnard to offer the president as the commencement speaker.

Naturally, any commencement revolving around women’s rights wouldn’t be complete without a man stepping in at the last minute to take the place of the woman who was originally scheduled to deliver the address — a woman from the New York Times no less:

A month ago, Barnard College announced that Jill Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times, would be its graduation speaker, but those plans changed with the call from the White House.